The Journey of a Thousand Miles…

…begins with a single step. This pedometer geek hasn’t been too vigilant this year about reporting either the miles or the steps made throughout the months. Nor has there been any blogging about the books read and challenges attempted and/or met, but I digress.

Having said that, this pedometer geek decided to continue the challenge of walking 1000 miles as her Bookcrossing.com friend in Great Britain has been doing. Actually, based on the total mileage from last year, this pedometer geek upped the year’s goal to 1500 miles.

As of yesterday, August 27, the goal of 1000 miles was met. Breaking it down by months, the miles and steps were as follows:

January: 108 miles     256,113 steps/46,582 aerobic steps

February: 109 miles   258,063 steps/52,936 aerobic steps

March: 135 miles       318,824 steps/79,457 aerobic steps

April: 143 miles         322,601 steps/36,275 aerobic steps

May: 123 miles          291,422 steps/24,342 aerobic steps

June: 131 miles          312,328 steps/34,789 aerobic steps

July: 139 miles          327,606 steps/21,585 aerobic steps

August: 112 miles (so far)

During the first seven months, there were 129 days in which the goal of 10,000 steps was met. Four of the seven months, the overall goal was met and a few of Healthcode.org’s Million Mile Month challenges were also met.

Now, the pedometer geek has to complete the other 500 miles before the end of the year.

 

 

Geology 101: 99-word Flash

Usually this pedometer geek writes one response to the Carrot Ranch prompt, but this is the second 99 word (no more, no less) piece written using the rock star prompt.

Geology 101

Dr. Wright taught geology. It was his passion; it was his life. He loved his subject, teaching college students the rudimentary elements of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. He taught them how mountains formed, about the shifting of fault lines, and about volcanic lava forming scoria and obsidian as it spewed forth from inside the earth.

At the end of the quarter, he took his students on a field trip to one of the local quarries. He handed them all tiny bottles of hydrochloric acid which reacted with the sedimentary rock, limestone.

This geologist truly was a rock star.

Nancy Brady, 2019

Check out all of the flash fiction at http://www.carrotranch.com.

Dr. Wright was a cool professor. He suggested that the best way to study for his exams was to explain the material to someone who had not heard his lectures. If that person understood what you were telling them about the subject, then you probably would do well on the exam.

For the first exam, I couldn’t feel comfortable speaking about the subject so studied the old-fashioned way, reading my notes and textbook; it was just too embarrassing (and my grade reflected it).

On the second exam, I talked to my boss about what we had covered, about the different kinds of rocks (igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic). Not only did this study method help with my performance on the essay exam, but my boss seemed to enjoy the subject.

It was probably a good thing that I had practiced with her because on the third and final exam, Dr, Wright decided instead of grading an essay exam that it was to be an oral exam.  To my recollection, that was the first (and only) oral exam I ever took, but it was an eye-opening experience.

Rock Star Famous: a 99-Word Flash

This week’s prompt at Carrot Ranch (www.carrotranch.com) was to write a story about a rock star in ninety-nine words (no more, and no less). Here is my story:

Rock Star Famous

My son Mark and his friends formed a band called Spike Strip. They rehearsed daily after school their two songs in the run up to the concert planned for Halloween.

During trick-or-treat, they sang and played those songs over and over again as kids came to the door for candy.

The concert was over before I returned from work, but that night Mark and his buddies were rock stars.

So much so that when there wasn’t a concert the following year, many kids asked where the band was, disappointed that they weren’t playing. Apparently, it was a memorable event.

Nancy Brady, 2019

It is funny that today when children are asked what they want to be when they grow up, many of them say that they want to be famous. They don’t name a profession like doctor, teacher, or nurse, but just to be famous.

What that says about our culture, I can’t say for sure, but it is a bit sad that being famous outranks being a productive human being. Alas…

Read all the other 99-word flash fictions at http://www.carrotranch.com, or better yet, write your own.

 

 

A Tail of Two Cats: 99-word Flash piece

This week’s prompt over at http://www.carrotranch.com is to write a 99-word (no more, no less) using the phrase for one day. Here is the pedometer geek’s entry.

A Tail of Two Cats

Bearcat, my black cat with just a touch of white on her chest, was a few months shy of twenty-two years when she died in my arms.

Flash, our calico with an attitude, was eighteen years when finally she lapsed into a coma and passed away.

Neither of them was particularly happy to have other cats around; they both preferred to be the only cat in the house.

Bear died on April 5, 2001, and Flash was born on that same date. For one day, their lives briefly overlapped; while they never met each other, they certainly owned us.

Nancy Brady, 2019

For all the flash fictions, check out http://www.carrotranch.com. Better yet, join in the fun and write a 99-word (no more, no less) of your own.

The Encyclopedia Kingdom: 99-word flash fiction

This week’s prompt at Carrot Ranch (www.carrotranch.com) was ‘kingdom for a koala.’ A flash fiction in ninety-nine words (no more and no less) was to be written. If it could be based on a true story, great. In this pedometer geek’s case, it is.

The Encyclopedia Kingdom

Julie loved picking up random volumes of the encyclopedia, discovering new animals. It was there that she found entries for wombats and koalas. Both were from Australia, but she’d probably only see them in pictures.

One Christmas, however, she saw a Moore’s ad with a stuffed koala bear on sale, ninety-nine cents. She circled it and hoped the hint would be taken.

On Christmas morning, Julie was excited to open a package containing the little koala. It looked less like the pictures, but she was happy.

Years later, she saw koalas at the Cleveland Zoo. Wombats? Fingers still crossed.

Nancy Brady, 2019

Check out all the entries over at http://www.carrotranch.com to discover all the kingdoms of the koala. Or pick up a random volume of an encyclopedia, and see what entry fires up excitement in you.

 

House Painting 101: 99-Word Flash Fiction

This week’s prompt over at the Carrot Ranch (www.carrotranch.com) was to write a flash piece about painting in 99 words (no more, no less). This is my late entry.

House Painting 101

Julia always liked bold, bright colors, and she was tired of having walls of cream, beige, or off-white year after year. Just this once, she and her husband picked jewel tone colors for their new home.

The living room was now midnight blue; the kitchen, burgundy, and the bedrooms, cypress green; even the den was turquoise. Still, the baseboards were painted white to match the ceilings.

Their friends and family were shocked by the boldness. “How will you ever be able cover over the paint? If you decide to sell the house?”

“We won’t,” they said. “Our heirs will.”

Nancy Brady, 2019

See all the other colorful, paint splattered entries at http://www.carrotranch.com

 

Flash: Haiku

A few haiku about Flash:

early morning

before the alarm

the cat

~Hedgerow #24

empty nesters

still picking up toys,

now the cat’s

~Bottlerockets #34, February 2016

no fear…

blue jays nab peanuts

despite the cat

~Brass Bell, February 2017

rainy day…

the cat’s purr

a lullaby

~Ito-en Haiku…submission finalist, August 2018

Nancy Brady, 2019